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Once again, a long period of work and other life has gotten in the way of sewing, but earlier this month I did manage to finish the Factory Dress by Merchant & Mills in time for our Christmas do. While it might not be a Christmas dress per se, more like a work dress really, I was determined to wear my own creation to our small but perfectly formed festivities, and hope desperately that I didn’t unravel at the table…

Material used: some lovely cotton flannel in a pin stripe from Ray Stitch. ‘Slight’ blunder in the cutting out having cut out the pieces so far I became distracted, returned to the kitchen table, and cut a pocket out of one on the front bodice pieces. To say I was annoyed with myself was a polite understatement. Raging fury more like. Having castigated myself loudly, I sat on the naughty sewing step for a full 24 hours. Hurumph. Anyway, I order another half a metre and patiently waited for it to arrive. In the end, all was well.

I followed the instructions pretty well and all was fairly straight forward to sew up for a novice like me. I was particularly pleased how the collar turned out as, having learned from my earlier blunder, I slowed right down and really took my time. Nice and pointy, huzzah!

A good collar, if I say so myself!

The only thing I struggled with slightly was knowing when to finish my edges – I tended to overlock the edges before sewing each piece but this didn’t always work. Anyway the end product is something I can wear and feel just a little bit please with myself. I certainly think I’ll make this pattern again but most definitely falls into the autumn/winter pattern category for me.

In amongst the chaos of December, I’ve also made one out of three pyjama bottoms for the sprats, finished my 2013 top twenty songs (in my fishy alter ego) for Mad Mackerel music blog, and been to Berlin. Not at all bad for a Panda, I’m sure you’ll agree?

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year – let’s hope it’s a good one without any fears.